Junior has had very limited success as a NASCAR driver, yet it seems that a vast majority of NASCAR fans are Junior fans. He has never won a championship. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, and Matt Kenseth are current drivers that have won the championship yet I know very few fans who support these drivers with the possible exception of Gordon, but Jeff has no where near the support Junior has. I see the # 8 everywhere.
2007-08-22 00:44:02 · 30 answers · asked by Elliott N 6 in Sports ➔ Auto Racing ➔ NASCAR
One thing that puzzles me is that Dale Earnhardt, Sr. never had the populatrity of Junior. Bill Elliott was most popular driver 16 times and Richard Petty 9 times. The only year Dale Sr. won most popular driver was the year he was killed at Daytona. Many resented his agressive style of wrecking others rather than passing them, so I don't think he was as popular as Junior.
2007-08-22 03:40:50 · update #1
This question was brought up in one of my psych classes and we got some intresring angles.We talked about several sports figuers besides Junior.
Most popular thought was that he is young ,a thrill seeker.
Then it was his sponsor being recognized as one of the top 5 world wide more people could relate to it.
Others included following his fathers name,A talented driver,natural spokesman.
Over all he came into the sport at a time that some fans were looking for new blood ,and the Earnhardt name was a plus.He has a driving talent as good as anyone and is fan freindly.This made him a natural fit with young fans and fans seeking a "young"blood in the sport.
2007-08-22 01:57:23 · answer #1 · answered by blakree 7 · 5⤊ 2⤋
Ok first off limited success? Yes Kennseth and Busch have won championships, but Jr's wins, top-5 and top-10 numbers are equal to their's.Oh yeah and look at his numbers after 2004, they drop sharply, just like the rest of DEI. And when does championships have anything to do with being popular, look at Mark Martin and Jeff Burton, hell Martin was in the 20 greatest NASCAR drivers list. Yes a lot of his populararity comes from the Earnhardt name, but if he didn't have the talent to back it up he would'nt be there (think about it where's Kerry these days). Yes he's not his father, and Jr's the first to say that. Jr admits when he messes up, doesn't go blaming other drivers when things happen, even when he has the right to(Vickers at Talladega, Kyle Busch at Texas). Think about it how many drivers would finish the race in the car of the driver that wrecked him. He wouldn't be as popular if he acted like Kyle Busch. As for the Budwieser thing, I'm a Jr fan I hate Bud(Guinness all the way). It's the way Jr carries himself really. And I don't know where you're looking but I see a lot of Orange HD20 stuff around here and I live in the south.
2007-08-22 07:53:54 · answer #2 · answered by Wedge_Antilles_72 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I agree with what BG said .
I honestly feel that its pretty much like how Richard Petty fan's thought that since he won 200 race's and 7 title's that Kyle would be just as good. Sadly he's not .The same goes for Jr . Sure he's good and doing better than Kyle ,but thats not my point.
Jr does have his TRUE fan's that made up their own mind to pull for him and didn't jump on the bandwagon and play monkey see ,monkey do ,but maybe/hopefully when he goes to HMS in '08 we will see who those real fan's are ,because it is well known that the majority of Jr and Gordon fan's are rival's and those who feel that way may drop Jr and find a different driver to pull for.I guess we'll find out in 6 month's .
Not being a Jr fan myself I for one will be glad to no longer have to hear the announcer's say"Look at that sea of red" referring to all the Jr fan's . They don't stop to consider that fan's of Carl Edwards,Kasey Kahne,Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson also wear red.
Also although he won't admit I feel that since Dale Sr's death and since Jr had that firey crash in the Rolex race that he has kind of lost his spark . He likes racing ,but he doesn't .LIke Kyle Petty when he lost Adam . The desire isn't as strong .
Thats like when I wear an orange shirt and live in Tennessee. People instantly think that I'm a Vol's fan . NOPE!!! I pull for Bama and the only time I wear orange is when its a Tony Stewart shirt.
EDIT:How can anyone say that Dale Sr wasn't the most popular driver ???
2007-08-22 04:27:05 · answer #3 · answered by NasCarl #99 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I agree with a lot of the answers its his name his dads fans made the jump to Dale JR as their favorite: BUT THAT IANOT ALL.... We are bombarded by him daily on TV..I am not a Gordon fan but Jeff has nothing on Marketing compared to Dale JR. TV Commercials how about Gillette Young Guns....Wrangler Jeans...Budweiser....Enterprise Rent A Car...Chevrolet Corp---Monte Carlo and Now Impala Commercials....COCA COLA family of racing...QVC.....Action Diecast....and on and on Not to Mention the the TV announcers being in his hip pocket every single race no matter what his position is on the track....Come on do the announcers have to be so biased? Heres Dale Jr moving up to the 22nd position. Fans you can see Jr working his way to the front he just took 13th position away from BIll Elliot......... Come on my gosh when was the last time if ever you heard of Elliott Sadler being mentioned moving into 22nd or Kasey Kane moving into 13th????? It is never mentioned When Dale Jr Is dropping positions.....This has nothing to do with the chase or top 12 chase positions . It has been this way from race #! of the season and every season before NO MATTER What Network televises or who commentates the race. NOT A GORDON FAN GOD BLESS RICHARD PETTY
2007-08-22 16:05:30 · answer #4 · answered by Ed P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good question, what a great change from troll kibble...I am a Kenseth fan from the beginning...I also love Edwards, BIffle, Stewart and Jr.
I think the loyalty for Jr comes form 2 places. You have the folks that loved Sr and threw to Jr for the name and the loyalty to family, you have the Jr fans, he is a good driver, great personality and for the ladies he is not hard ont he eyes.
I agree that some others like Kenseth are overlooked, but that is the ay it has been for a long time, and we still love our drivers and just enkoy the races.
2007-08-22 02:19:43 · answer #5 · answered by ? 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Cause his father was the Intimidator! I'm not a jr fan but I do know this. Plus he is a really good driver. He works a lot harder than other drivers and he would never put a fan out in the dust. Unlike some drivers I know
2007-08-22 07:24:21 · answer #6 · answered by Ashleigh 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Dale Jr. is so popular because he has a lot of carry over fans from his dad. When Dale Sr. died in 2001 all of his fans were left instantaneously with no one to root for. They had someone there that was an easy choice. Dale Jr. is a good driver but he will always live in the shadow of his father.
2007-08-22 01:52:38 · answer #7 · answered by mdo88 1 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Because he won 2 Busch championships. He has 17 career wins although the last few years have been bad because DEI has fallen behind in their testing (Kurt Busch just won his 17th yesterday for those who say only 17? That sucks.). He is a great sponsor because he is always positive and stays out of trouble. Unlike Gordon or Johnson he can think for himself (Johnson was much better when he came to NASCAR and now he is been homoized into another Jeff Gordon). Yes his name helps too.
2007-08-22 01:50:48 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 2⤋
Sure, his father's name has to do with it, but I think he's a good enough driver in his own right as well. The truth is, IMHO, none of them are bad. To comment on the "never won a championship", well, neither did Stirling Moss and no one questions his greatness?
In addition, Jr. is a likeable personality for a lot of people. They all have fans for a reason. It just happens that way. (Heck, why do the Toronto Maple Leafs still have fans after 40 years of no Cups... lol...) You get my point I guess. :)
NASCAR is not my main thing, so I don't have a set of drivers who I favour more than others. I just take it for what it is and enjoy the racing. But I've had favourites in other series, and often it was for how dedicated and focused they were on winning (I "worshiped" Senna in F1).
RP
2007-08-22 03:22:59 · answer #9 · answered by R P 4 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Just the fact so many people wanted to comment on this question says something. You see JR #8 it attracts your attention if your a NASCAR fan. Wrangler and so on.
He has a lot of fair weathre fans from his dad and he started out promising but kinda fizzled. for the true fan, I dont think they will be disapointed next year.
Go Carl
2007-08-22 04:33:39 · answer #10 · answered by NASCARdomis 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋